Carrot Scallion Latkes

Latkes are everyone’s favorite Jewish fried food. The typical latke is made with potato, flour and eggs. I however, like to make a more Paleo friendly latke and now with this new recipe, I have 2 versions of Paleo pancakes.

Generally at Hanukkah, I make a Butternut Squash Latke, though this year I was searching for a bit of variety and so came up with this Carrot Scallion Latke. Why carrots? Well, first of all, my younger son asked me to make a carrot latke. Second, given my Paleo preferences, I eat carrots and not potatoes. Third, carrots make a healthier latke than potatoes –why? Carrots are rich in carotenoids which promote good vision, regulate blood sugar and may also promote colon health and prevent cancer –who knew?! Potatoes on the other hand are tough for me to digest, high in starch and can wreak havoc on blood sugar.

So, here, I present you with what I hope is healthier fried fare (if such a thing is possible) with these healthy and delicious Carrot Scallion Latkes. Although Hanukkah is a celebration that entails a good deal of fried food, if you saute these in a bit of olive oil rather than deep frying them in inches of the stuff, they’re a nice alternative to regular greasy Hanukkah food and a much healthier latke.

Dear Elana,
This looks absolutely delicious! I work the Jewish Vegetarian Society and we would love to publish this on our website under our Chanukah section. Can you give us permission to do so? We will of course credit you as the author and promote your wonderful website!
All the best
Adam

Elana,
I recently tried a Paleo rutabaga latke which was pretty good. The great thing is that it was baked, not fried. Not quite as crispy (perhaps I need to make them thinner?) but not pretty good and healthier than frying. I just googled “rutabaga latke.”

I know this comment is old but I’m replying for the benefit of anyone reading. I cook with rutabaga a lot… I’ve used it in countless numbers of ways over the years. It just doesn’t get crispy. Ever. Not matter what. DELISH but no crisp.

I made these tonight for the last night of Hanukkah. They were FABULOUS! I got a dozen from the recipe and there are only four left. Did I mention there are only two of us?

I *tweaked* the recipe a bit, adding a pinch of grated garlic and about 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger to take it ever so slightly toward the Asian flavor profile. Can’t wait to make these again! Todah!

these are fabulous! I made them with parsnips and they were great- my nephews didn’t even notice they weren’t potatoes. (frankly I think they taste so much better). thanks for wonderful recipes, Elana!

You probably could. . . but coconut flour is 3 times more absorbent than almond flour (or other flours. So you’d likely want to adjust the amount accordingly. Also, almond flour tends to “burn” easily so watch your temp close or they may end up really dark.

I make my latkes with Jerusalem artichokes, which always are in season here right before Chanukah.

Since the miracle involved the one and only remaining flask of pure olive oil lasting for 8 full days, till enough new oil could be gotten, we fry foods in oil on Chanukah. On the one hand, besides (usually) being a good choice, and having been the kind the miracle happened with, olive oil seems a good choice. But since it isn’t a good choice (alone) for frying, I usually combine it with canola oil…

Orininally, I think we ate ANYTHING fried in oil on Chanukah, but latkes for Ashkenazi Jews and donuts for Sefardi Jews seem most traditional. In various countries other fried foods are used. When my kids were little and we didn’t have any food issues, we made a different pancake or patty each night — together with the potato latkes and cottage cheese latkes, of course. There’s a recipe in Recipes for A Small Planet, I believe, for potato latkes enriched with skim milk powder and corn, and served with sour cream, which are delicious — for those who can still eat those things ;-) Dairy foods are also customary during Chanukah.

Which variant…carrot or butternut squash…is LESS glycemic/insulin-spiking…anyone?..I’ve been fearful of cooked carrots because I have read their resulting sugar content is akin to refined white sugar or white bread!

These latkes are soooo amazing! We ate them with the sesame/almond butter noodle recipe from your site, and my boys ate them dipped in sweet chili sauce like egg rolls (but waaaaay healthier!) thanks for all your awesome recipes, I am so hooked on your site!

I’ve made carrot latkes from a similar recipe for years, but with garlic instead of green onions. This time I used both. The green onions added some nice colour. This was the first time I made it with coconut flour, and it came out just fine. Everyone loved it.

I blogged about how all the ingredients I used have improved over the years and linked back to your recipe.

I’ve been on a full-time latke kick for the last week, and I made both these and the butternut squash version. I loved these with a tablespoon of fresh ginger mixed in, and I’ll admit that I dressed up the squash ones with cumin and coriander as well. Loved them both, thanks for the inspiration!

I made these with egg whites only as well as the butternut squash ones. Really crispy – will do this from now on. The carrot latkes were a huge hit this year – might also be good kind of asian flavored by adding some ginger. Yay for Elana!

Perfect! I’ve been wondering how to still stay Paleo and eat latkes too! I hadn’t given it much thought because it’s so early this year. It just sort of crept up on me. yikes! Can you believe it’s already Night 2 tonight? crazy.
Thanks for staying on top of things, Elana! You’ve saved my Hanukkah eating : )

Thanks so much. This is my first year off all grains and potatoes/sweet potatoes/parsnips and I was at a loss for what to do for latkes! I knew you would know what to do. I shall try them both and know they will be delicious. Happy Chanukah to you and yours. May you be wrapped in light in the midst of darkness. Nancy

Like you, Elana, I can’t tolerate potatoes…..so thank you for posting alternative recipes like these. We’re not Jewish but my kids are fascinated by Hanukkah traditions, so I’m thinking that I’ll make these to go with our dinner tonight. I just bought lotsa carrots!

These sound delicious and I will be serving them at my next Sunday night dinner party!

I am a gf/df travel-blogger who focuses on Trailer Food vendors (www.trailerfooddiaries.blogspot.com) – I would like to revamp my website and blog to have a similar look and feel to your site which I admire a great deal. I like that you have your blog and then buttons on the top as well as product sales (all things I require). Can you give me a hand on what you are using for your site so I can regroup?

I don’t know that my family will go for these, but I’ll try a batch! And I’m inspired to add some parsnips to our potato latkes this year. YUM!

Our answer to the high oil content is my “latke recovery salad.” About halfway through the latke eating, we pull out a salad of romaine lettuce, granny smith apples, celery and honey-mustard vinagrette (oil free–just honey, mustard, and cider vinegar). Nosh on that between latkes, and the body recovers pretty well!

Elana, these look amazing! This looks like a delicious combo of flavors that I am totally going to make. My kids adore latkes of any form, no matter what is in them. They would so dig these.
And thanks for sharing my Zucchini fritters, my friend!
xo

Hi, was wondering if it was possible to exchange the flour for rice flour.
Thing is I am snowed in here in the UK and while I have plenty of carrots I don’t have the correct flour. However I have a big bag of rice flour and was wondering if I could use that instead.
Love the site
Lia

I just wanted to say that we use olive oil all the time in my house and have never had an issue. We buy the one that says “for sauteeing and baking” on it. It does not have a strong flavor which is why I love it! Also, we’ve been cooking latkes on our George Foreman and not using any oil! If they are heated through enough they don’t stick. It’s worked great for us for several years now. Can’t wait to try these new versions this year. It will be a nice alternative to the potato and onion latkes that I typically make.

I just made them for lunch… super yummy… I grated up some sweet potatoes and zucs too..since I was low on carrots…I mixed all 3 and it was soooo good!!! Cant wait for the boys to get home… I know they will like them too!!
Thanks again for a great recipe!
L

I had the same thought. I don’t to use olive oil for high heat cooking. There were some other great healthy latke recipes in the Wall St Journal a few days ago (who would have guessed?). They recommend frying in: canola oi (though that has it’s drawbacks too), clarified butter (aka ghee), or grapeseed oil. Interestingly the article says that latkes originally were made from buckwheat or root vegetables (typically parsnips),

Olive oil is definitely the traditional oil for Hanukkah. But I’ve read the same as you about not applying heat to olive oil…at least not extra virgin olive oil. I recently read that regular (ie, not extra virgin or virgin) olive oil *might* be OK for heated applications.

Me? I use unrefined extra virgin coconut oil. It’s great for heated applications, and has tons of health benefits. I use Mountain Rose Herbs brand (best price for a gallon…we use it for *many* applications around here…check out Lindsay’s Passionate Homemaking blog for ideas). I even fried some yukons in it for lunch today with eggs. Yum! I personally don’t think it tastes coconutty (even the unrefined extra virgin version, though MRH also sells a refined version). In a recipe like this where there is already coconut flour, I think that coconut oil would be especially complementary. Last year, I fried Elana’s butternut squash latkes in this coconut oil and they were DELICIOUS!

Also, I recommend cutting scallions with scissors/shears rather than a knife…SO much easier and more efficient!

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